Porn’s First Black Female Star

Patricia Lee was born Aug. 25, 1954 somewhere in the Midwest and very little data exists regarding her formative and school years. At the age of nineteen she changed her name to Desiree West and entered into the world of porn. It was a daring move as Desiree was a black woman and in those very early days of the golden age of porn, a black female porn stars and interracial sex were not part of the scene.

She made her debut in the film  “Teenage Runaway” in 1973 opposite a young, new male star to be, Joey Silvera. Today, Silvera is a very successful director/producer for Evil Angel. From there Desiree would go to appear in almost 100 films, but always in a supporting role. She was legitimately porn’s first black female star and her male partners had no problem doing sex scenes with her. Desiree besides being black, also had some Asian characteristics to her physical makeup. She was a curvaceous, big busted girl with expressive eyes and a great smile.

She was a sexual dynamo and it is said that her oral talents far surpassed anyone at the time. She appeared in a couple of Johnny Wadd films with John Holmes and was one of a very few that could deep throat his massive member. Desiree also had another thing going for her and that was the fact that she was natural as an actress. She could deliver lines in a realistic and timely manner much like a trained pro.

She appeared in films like Night Pleasures, Daddy’s Little Girl, Sex World, Sweet Savage and Rockin’ With Seka. She also used the shortened version of her real name Pat Lee in some films. She was comfortable in doing a sex scene with a female as she was a male star and always gave a very orgasmic and very real performance. She retired from the porn scene in the early 80’s but did make a couple of films in the late 80’s just to see at an older age if she still had what it took. One look at her film “Amos and Candy” proved she still had it.

She did retire for good after that and in 1990 was elected to the XRCO Hall of Fame for her contributions to the industry, mainly for opening the door for other black performers to enter the business. Today at the age of 64, Desiree West is said to be married and living a normal life in North Carolina. She was a joy to watch not only sexually but also as an actress and many of the films she was in, such as the Johnny Wadd films and Sex World are available on DVD and worth checking out.

Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN.